Partner of the Week: SOS Children’s Villages Kyrgyzstan

Posted in Partner of The Week on February 2, 2018

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SOS Children’s Villages Kyrgyzstan is a non-governmental organisation, providing services to children without parental care and children at risk of losing parental care. More than 200 children live in the villages and another 600 children are helped through family strengthening projects each year in the Kyrgyz Republic.

In 2010, Aflatoun’s method was introduced to SOS mothers and administration staff in the villages. This was followed by a training for trainers to implement Aflatoun’s programme for SOS children, which was supported by an extensive school campaign. To date, more than 1000 children have received Aflatoun’s social and financial education and the most active and enterprising among them have joined the Aflatoun club.

By participating in entrepreneurial activities, children learn how they can have a positive impact on their community. They also develop financial skills, which encourage them to actively participate in various projects and manage their funding resources. For example, children accumulated monthly pocket money to buy wheelchair for a child with disabilities and collected scrap paper to sell and save the money. At the same time, Aflatoun’s method helps facilitators to teach more effectively and develop the children’s skills.

During Global Money Week, a course on financial literacy was given to SOS youth. A bank representative taught them about all bank activities like credit service, deposits, and how to invest money wisely. The young participants prepared presentations of successful businessmen and learned how Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Adolf Dassler started with a small business. Through these presentations they explored the formation of huge corporations, which gave them plenty of food for thought about their future.